Par-delà l’efficacité des interventions auprès de parents d’enfants difficiles, de possibles effets délétères pour la coparentalité ?

peer reviewedLes interventions destinées aux parents de jeunes enfants présentant des comportements difficiles ont montré leur efficacité. Se pose cependant la question de possibles effets délétères non attendus de ces interventions sur d’autres aspects de la parentalité. L’impact sur la coparentalité (collaboration entre les deux parents) est mesuré ici dans le cadre de deux interventions parentales de la recherche H2M, l’une visant à améliorer le sentiment de compétence parentale et l’autre la réactivité verbale des parents (N = 60). Les résultats montrent l’absence d’effets globaux négatifs de ces interventions sur la coparentalité du parent participant. Il apparaît cependant que l’évolution de la coparentalité varie selon que ce soit le père ou la mère qui participe et selon le type d’intervention. De plus, un lien négatif est montré entre l’évolution de la coparentalité et l’alliance thérapeutique que le parent noue avec les thérapeutes qui animent les interventions

Factorial Structure of the Parent-Reported Version of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits Among Belgian Children: A Theory-Based Model

peer reviewedThe factorial structure of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional traits (ICU) is still under debate in the current literature and the published models are predominantly based on the empirical results of the statistical analyses rather than on a strong theoretical background. Aimed at overcoming these limits, the current study examined a factorial structure initiated by a theoretical framework for the parent-version of the ICU, based on a community sample of Belgian children aged 3–9 (N = 437; M age = 5.59; 54.7% boys). Further, the current study investigated measurement invariance across age and gender, and the external validity of this structure. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated that empirical factor models from the current literature demonstrated a relatively poor fit to the data. Alternative models were built based on theory, specifically criteria from the DSM-V specifier “with limited prosocial emotions.” CFA supported an 18-item second order model with three first order factors (Lack of conscience, Unconcern about performance, Lack of emotional expression), a second order latent factor (General dimension of CU traits) and a methodological factor encompassing negatively worded items. Results supported measurement invariance across child gender, and to a lesser extent across age. As expected, the general dimension correlated with measures of aggressive behavior, attention problems, internalizing behavior and empathy. The Lack of emotional expression subfactor showed a different pattern of associations in comparison to the two other subfactors. The implications of these findings are discussed, specifically in relation to the DSM-V LPE specifier

The reciprocal relation between children’s attachment representations and their cognitive ability

This study explores reciprocal relations between children’s attachment representations and their cognitive ability. Previous literature has mainly focused on the prediction of cognitive abilities from attachment, rarely on the reverse prediction. This was explored in the current research. Attachment representations were assessed with the Attachment Story Completion Task (Bretherton, Ridgeway, & Cassidy, 1990); the IQ was measured with the WPPSI-III (Wechsler, 2004). Data were collected twice, at a two-year interval, from about 400 preschoolers. Reasoning IQ was found to influence the development of secure attachment representations, while attachment security and disorganization influenced later verbal IQ. The implications of the findings for both clinical and research purposes are discussed in the light of the interactions between cognitive abilities and attachment representations

Concordance of attachment representations in mother- and father-child dyads and between siblings.

This study focuses on the concordance of attachment representations in twoparent, two-child families as an original contribution to the current attachment literature. It uses both categorical attachment patterns and continuous scores. Data was collected on 92 native French-speaking Belgian families. In order to disentangle conceptual and methodological interpretations, each hypothesis was tested in two complementary ways: first in a sample where the parent completed the Cartes pour les Modèles Internes de Relation (CaMir) and their young children (four- to seven-year-olds) the French version of the Attachment Story Completion Task (Fr-ASCT) and second, in a sample where both parents and their teenage to young-adult children (15- to 34-year-olds) completed the CaMir. Our results indicated very little if any concordance of attachment representations, either when using categorical scores or when using continuous scores. The implications of these results for both theoretical and research purposes are discussed

Intergenerational transmission within the family

In this special issue, we wanted to gather a diverse range of psychological points of view concerning the question of intergenerational transmission within the family. It was on this topic that we asked for contributions from systemic family therapists and developmentalists. It is such an important topic from both a research and a clinical perspective that our colleagues were full of enthusiasm for the project

Stability of young children’s attachment representations: Influences of children’s and caregiver’s characteristics.

This research explores the stability of attachment representations, assessed by the Attachment Story Completion Task,within early childhood. Hypotheses were also formed about the influence of parenting, externalizing behavior and intelligence quotient (IQ) on the developmental course of children's attachment representations. Data were collected from 358 French-speaking Belgian children. Security and disorganization showed a linear improvement with age. The effect of time on the two growth curves was influenced by the child's externalizing behavior. When language abilities were controlled for in a subsample of referred children for externalizing behavior, the growth in security was found to be influenced by reasoning IQ, but the effects for disorganization were unchanged. The implications of the results for both research and clinical purposes are discussed